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Dwalin woke with a start, jumping from his bed and grabbing his Warhammer before he rushed into Bilbo's room to find the hobbit kneeling on the bed with his hand on the wall behind it clutching his stomach.

"Bilbo?" Dwalin looked around the room but could not see anyone so he dropped the hammer and rushed over to Bilbo. "What is it?"

"Pain," Bilbo gasped out, rubbing at his stomach.

"Should I get Violet?"

Bilbo nodded.

Dwalin did not want to leave him but he knew nothing about pregnancy even after discussing it with Violet regularly – she was as worried about Bilbo as Dwalin was. Luckily, the Gamgee hobbit-hole was close to Bilbo's and he made it there and back in only a few minutes. Violet had thrown a jacket on over her shockingly bright yellow nightgown the moment she had seen Dwalin in her doorway, not giving him a moment to say anything. They both rushed through the night to Bilbo's green door which was still standing ajar. Dwalin slowed so that Violet was the first into the room and she immediately climbed up onto the bed with Bilbo.

Dwalin stood in the doorway, not entirely sure what he should be doing. He would wait for instruction from Violet. Not for the first time the warrior wondered why he had decided to stay here with Bilbo when his brother would have been a better choice. Balin knew how to be still, to spend his time in his own company quietly. That was Bilbo's life for the most part though Dwalin has seen that the hobbit would be much more active if it were not for the fact that he could not move comfortably any longer. Dwalin was lost without his daily drills with the other members of the King's Guard and his time spent advising and helping Thorin in the reclamation of their mountain. Dwalin so often found himself unsure of what he should do to fill his days now. Though, he could admit the desire to have left this duty to Balin was also selfish; he missed Ori. Yet, even now, Dwalin was also glad that he had come to see Bilbo – he enjoyed the Halfling's company more than he remembered doing so when they were travelling. That could have more to do with the fact that hobbits were not disposed to long journeys away from home. He was coming to see the quiet strength in hobbits now though.

"Dwalin," Violet called out, pulling the dwarf from his thoughts.

He started and moved closer to the bed. Bilbo's face was pale, sweat beading along his brow and in his hair and he breathed quickly and shallowly as though constantly trying to catch his breath.

"What can I do?" Dwalin asked.

"Help me turn him onto his side," Violet said. "I need to go and collect some herbs."

Dwalin nodded and settled Bilbo onto his side.

"Keep the room warm and keep him calm." Violet said, shoving one of the torches Bilbo kept near the fire in until it caught alight. She nodded at Dwalin and then left the room and then he heard the front door close and Bilbo griped his hand tightly and held on.

"Bilbo?" Dwalin said, trying to think of what his brother would do, what Ori would do, in this situation.

"I will be fine…Violet…warned me," then Bilbo was silent.

Dwalin continued to hold onto Bilbo's hand and hope that Violet returned as quickly as possible. Bilbo was tense next to Dwalin but his breathing was easier. Dwalin did not like not knowing what to do and he so often did not know what to do here in the Shire. Time seemed to drag until Dwalin heard the front door open again and Violet stomped into the bedroom and looked at Dwalin until the dwarf moved out of the way.

She gave Dwalin a handful of different roots and flowers that he held carefully while she sat on the bed next to Bilbo. She brushed a bulbous root off on her coat and then dunked it in Bilbo's glass of water before she snapped a small section off and placed it in Bilbo's mouth.

"Chew on that, Bilbo," Violet said, rubbing Bilbo's arm.

Dwalin could smell the root in the air, something bitter that he could not identify. He had faith in Violet though. Bilbo chewed slowly and calmed bit by bit even if his muscles remained tensed.

"What did you give him?"

"Something to help with the pain. It is the root of a plant that I grow in my garden for just this reason," Violet said. "You have to be carefully with it though, too much and it can knock a person out – quite dangerous for a hobbit expecting."

"Is it safe for him?"

Violet looked at him with disdain and Dwalin immediately stepped back and ducked his head. "Of course," Violet said, her voice full of annoyance that he would even think she did not know what she was doing.

Dwalin apologised, remembering his mother suddenly – she and Violet could have easily come from the same block of granite. Violet nodded and looked down at Bilbo again, holding one of his hankies below Bilbo's mouth and instructing him to spit out the root. She smoothed her hand through his hair and murmured something to the other hobbit.

"Come," Violet said, looking at Dwalin, "I need your help and Bilbo should be calm for long enough for us to get everything done."

Dwalin nodded and stepped away from the bed, looking down at the still tense lines of Bilbo's face. Dwalin recognised the expression from a great many battlefields but he had never associated the look with anything less than battle. He silently followed Violet out of Bilbo's room and into the kitchen. Violet took the plants from Dwalin's hand and busied herself pulling things from the cupboards until she looked down at the table with satisfaction.

"Here," she said, handing him a jug of water, "you will need to pour that in when I tell you."

Dwalin took the jug and stepped closer to the table. "Will this fix the problem?"

"Nothing can really fix this problem," Violet said.

Dwalin frowned at her. "What is wrong with him?"

"It is the weight of the babies," Violet said, grinding the herbs in a stone bowl with enough vigour to make a dwarf proud. "Your dense dwarf bones are too much for him."

Dwalin felt his stomach twist. "What are you going to do?"

"Tie him to that bed until they are far enough along to birth them."

Dwalin let out a harsh breath. "What will that do?"

"Alleviate some of the pressure on his body. Bilbo is not the first hobbit I have ever nursed that struggled with the pressure of pregnancy. I will get Bilbo Baggins through like I did his mother and the babies will be well – probably as boisterous and strapping as Bilbo was as a child."

"Bilbo was a boisterous child?"

"He was his mother's son until her death and he tried to become more like the Baggins of Bag-End. It warmed my heart when he slipped off on his adventure. His mother would have been so proud of him."

"You were close to his mother?"

"We were great friends. Bilbo was the first baby I delivered when I stopped visiting with my Ma. It was a shame she could never have children after Bilbo – broke my heart to tell her so but she loved that boy as though he were a family to rival the Tooks."

"She had a hard pregnancy too?" Dwalin asked, pouring the water as she gestured for it.

"Oh yes, terrible, she was in bed for most of it, but Bilbo was born strong and she bounced back well. Bilbo is older than many hobbits when they have their first child but that adventure made him stronger, brought out that horrible stubbornness he got from his mother. He will be completely well if I have any say in it."

Dwalin smiled and felt his shoulders relax. "Then everyone shall be completely healthy."

Violet looked at him even while she mixed the herbs in front of her. "And you are not the babe's father?"

"No!" Dwalin said forcefully.

"And yet you are so worried for his health."

Dwalin looked back towards Bilbo's bedroom. "It is really not my secret to tell."

"It will be that King of yours then," Violet said, with disdain. Dwalin's honour and loyalty made his bristle at her tone but he did not say anything. "Oh, I can tell by the look on your face, you want to defend him because he is your King but you did not see Bilbo when he first came back – heartbroken but hopeful because of those babies. That Gandalf said something about a Thorin and I have heard you talk about your King Thorin with the hobbitlings that follow you around. He is the babes' other father, is he not?"

Dwalin nodded.

"And you are here to protect the heir to your kingdom?"

Dwalin glared at her, wanting to fold his arms over his chest and really show her his displeasure but she stared him down and he had to admit that even he did not agree with Thorin's actions where the hobbit was concerned.

"I am here to assist Bilbo because it is the right thing to do."

Violet smiled at him. "Good, then we will get him through this."

"Thorin is a good King."

Violet huffed at him and began tearing up a bunch of red flowers. "But not a decent partner."

Dwalin wanted to argue with Violet but he knew a lost cause when he saw one. "What else do you need me to do?"

Violet nodded once, reassured, and then ordered Dwalin around while she made a range of strange smelling things.

There were loose leaves that she poured into a little mesh bag to dry out. "Tea, to be consumed with every meal." A bunch of herbs that she hung upside down above the fire. "When they are dried they can be added to meals to help." And there was a wet paste infused with brightly coloured flowers. "You do not want to know what that one is for."

The last thing Violet did was cut up the root she had given to Bilbo and boiled it in a pot of water. "You are only to give him a thimble full – I will bring one over for you, if he wakes again like he did tonight."

Dwalin nodded. "You tell me what to do and I will do it."

"There are a few other pregnant hobbits around here so I cannot simply move in like I would like to."

"Do you often move in with expectant hobbits?"

Violet smiled at him. "Anything I need to do to birth a healthy babe. Just like my Hamfast would do anything for his garden."

Dwalin smiled, thinking of the way that Hamfast cared for Bilbo's garden and how much more determined he must be with his own. Then he thought about Ori and his books – the library that Ori was so determined to save.

"I am going to go and check on Bilbo," Violet said. "Stir the root until I get back, please."

Dwalin nodded and took up the wooden spoon, stirring under her watch for a few moments before she nodded and left the room. The broth in front of him smelt so strongly that Dwalin had to turn his head while he stirred. Violet came back in and tsked at him before taking the wooden spoon from his hand.

"He has fallen back to sleep." Violet explained. "You should sleep too."

"I do not need to," Dwalin said, folding his arms across his chest.

Violet looked up at him with one grey eyebrow slowly creeping up. "Are you going to be caring for Bilbo?"

"Yes."

"Then get to bed before I throw you in there myself."

Dwalin felt his mouth twitch but he nodded and turned to go back to his bedroom. He refrained from explaining to her that he was a warrior and was used to little to no sleep when needed. He would just do what she asked of him so long as it meant that he was looking after Bilbo. Dwalin was always pleased that he found falling asleep so easy – he had been trained to find sleep whenever and wherever he could.

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